Mike Sumrow
Drilling Editor
HOUSTON, Sept. 19 -- Shell Exploration & Production Co. (Sepco), Houston, has announced the successful completion of the world's first application of the expandable tubular technology the company calls MonoDiameter.
A collaborative effort of Sepco, Shell International Exploration & Production Inc., and Houston-based Enventure Global Technology, the technology eliminates the telescoping effect in current well design, the companies say, allowing operators to slim down the top of the well while increasing the well diameter at TD.
The Starr County, Tex., Thomas-Rife Gas Unit No. 15 is a Vicksburg gas producer that the company spudded May 18. Drilling and completion of the well employed four separate solid expandable tubular casing or liner sections and a fracturing stimulation job within the reservoir.
Starting with 16-in. surface casing that crews extended from 1,092 ft to 1,600 ft with an expandable liner, the well reached the 8,800-ft TD with a 7 5/8-in. by 9 5/8-in. solid-expandable liner with 7.83-in. post-expansion ID.
Referring to the process of refining the tools, practices, and operating procedures for use of solid expandable tubulars in the well, Sepco Pres. and CEO Raoul Restucci said, "We tested just about everything." He explained that the engineers and crews had done seven different tests involving solid-expandable tubulars on the Thomas-Rife project.
Listing various benefits of the technology, the companies said it has the potential to help operators working in deep water, in subsalt zones, and in drilling deep wells that commonly encounter challenges before reaching the planned TD.
Should unexpected drilling problems arise, the companies claim the MonoDiameter technology would provide the operator with greater capability of reaching the planned TD with a casing size large enough to install the planned well completion and allow full production potential from the reservoirs.
Restucci explained that by reducing a well's surface size and reducing the riser size required offshore would allow operators to use smaller, less-expensive rigs, dramatically reducing daily rig costs.
The technology will reduce material usage, costs, and environmental impact. It could shrink the operational footprint on land up to 75%, generate fewer emissions by reducing rig size, consume 20% less drilling mud, and generate up to 50% fewer cuttings, he explained.
Restucci said Sepco plans to drill a MonoDiameter well in the Gulf of Mexico in 2003